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Illusions In The Sand
Mask of Perception "I'm impressed Sakaki-san, if the stories I've heard about are true, you'll make an excellent addition to the Mirage Corps." Sakaki, a former shinobi of Sunagakure skilled in the art of assassination and genjutsu. His mission was to infiltrate a group of smugglers, and veer their operations towards the benefit of Suna. Unfortunately his mission failed and he was interrogated and executed by Akatsuki operatives. But for the purpose of his mission, Yasakani chose to...draw Sakaki out of "retirement" as it were, since they had continued to feed Suna intel since the infiltration. Digging into his background revealed little, but it was a simple matter to extrapolate the essence of his character and construct a realistic progression of his personality after years of assuming another guise. Eyes and senses beyond human search for any hint of deception or hesitation. They find none. Yasakani smiles lightly at the compliment, his body posture relaxing as though unused to geniune human interaction, but still slightly tense from years away on his "mission". Its subtle, but Ganjou eases into the conversation, more confident but still wary. Further adjustment is needed. Shifting his body language to convey a confident but humble aura, Ganjou takes the lure and smiles brightly in return. "I appreciate it Ganjou-san." He answers his voice deep and gravely like the grains of sand sliding across stone. "I still need to check in with the Kazekage, and get my things straightened out first. Apparently leaving on an assignment by the Kage doesn't exclude you from paying your bills and yearly taxes." He scoffs, as though annoyed. Ganjou relaxes, more assured, its working. Ganjou laughs at his expense, patting him on the shoulder in sympathy. "You can never escape bureaucracy, I can attest to that. Kazekage-sama got on my ass after I tricked the debt collectors with a genjutsu. Just a slight memory modification, harmless really. But he mentioned something about not abusing our abilities and that all citizens, shinobi included weren't exempt. Oh well." He shifts looking cautiously over his shoulder. "Look, I'd tell you where to find us but I figure with your skills you outta be fine. Part of a little game we have setup to keep our recruits and the students skills sharp." Suspicions allayed for now, but still wary, not of possible infiltration but of a newcomer and a possible challenge. Infiltration of Sunagakure is a success. Giving him a pointed look, Yasakani rolls his eyes in exasperation and waves him off as he trudges through the village to see the Kazekage. "Now all that's left is to convince the Kazekage, and then Shigeo we will see if such claims hold any truth." --- Unknown Akatsuki Hideout: 1 Day Earlier Yasakani thumbs through the reports, fingering one in particular. With Akatsuki growing as it had been the demand for highly specialized individuals had grown tremendously over the years. Of course assessing potential recruits and threats was a necessity. He looks over the file regarding one Shigeo Aizawa, a high-ranking Suna-nin whose skill with genjutsu was quickly becoming the stuff of legend. Yasakani rarely listedn to such exaggerations, and had nearly dismissed the claims as peasant superstition. That is until he heard that Shigeo was reputedly the leader of a new unit, the Mirage Corps; a highly elite team of genjutsu specialists. It was rare for any village to devote resources for such a team, the idea itself may even be revolutionary, given the power and rarity of skilled genjutsu users. This... this warranted an investigation, but he wouldn't delegate such a task to one of his subordinates. Too much could go wrong, and none of them had the prowess to contend with any genjutsu specialists, not like him. Partly it was pragmatic; he was the most logical choice, but he wouldn't deny the chance at testing his mettle against a fellow practitioner. Much of a person can be drawn based entirely on how they fight, and he needed to know of Shigeo could be a worthy asset. He would need to infiltrate Sunagakure, make contact with Shigeo and if possible engage in a non-lethal battle to determine his exact skill. Yes, he was going to need to infiltrate, and he would need a fake identity. It was time he contacted Soga Yotsugi. --- Sunagakure: Present The meeting with the Kazekage went splendidly, more than he could have hoped. Perhaps a little too well. Gaara was renown for his shred nature and intuition, but for the time being knowing one of his shinobi had returned and that his intel over the years had proven... "invaluable" might have warded off any suspicion of foul play. Was it possible that Gaara had seen through him? Perhaps, and if he was honest with himself, then yes, but for now it appeared that Gaara would play this close to chest and allow him to roam freely. Finding the location of the Mirage Corps however had proven to be quite the exercise. Ganjou was rather keen on demonstrating the skill of a member of the Mirage Corps. If he was honest with himself, he was impressed, it had taken him a second attempt at finding its location. Normally he would have detected such an illusion outright, but it seems that Ganjou had outdone himself. Multi-layered genjutsu were notoriously hard to craft, tying them to sensory overlays over several a several blocks made it all the more impressive. He opted not to dismantle them, but he did tweak them so that any other... students would be able to detect the ruse. Satisfied with his work he entered the headquarters of the Mirage Corps... Once he entered, he would find that Ganjou was already waiting for him just inside the entrance. He appeared unsurprised at his arrival, so unsurprised in fact that when Yasakani showed up, he spoke simply "follow me". It would take Yasakani but a single second to understand why the headquarters had been so well-hidden, and why such an impressive amount of genjutsu knowledge had been necessary to find it and enter the headquarters. The room itself was enormous, far larger than what its outside representation would imply, it looked like something that simply couldn't be. The room itself was a maze with stairwells and offices everywhere, but what was really odd was how stairs, offices and corridors were crammed into impossible angles, such as having staircases proceed straight upwards at a diagonal angle, making it impossible to use them to ascend to the upper levels due to the pull of gravity. The entire room was an impossibility, but yet people moved completely unhindered in each of the rooms, not minding that their entire world was upside down or that they were moving in complete reverse. However, where there was neither floor, celling, office or corridors there was instead a churning abyss of a vibrant indigo color; this endless expanse of nothingness gave little in the way of familiarity for it made the entire headquarters appear even more ghastly and surreal than it already was. Like if it wasn't even a part of the rest of the world, but more like a portal to an alien and foreign realm of illusions. Looking around, Yasakani would find himself in a similar situation, for he and Ganjou were presently standing with their legs planted onto the roof, and looking down upon what looked to be the actual room itself on ground level. While Yasakani looked at their surroundings, Ganjou had already readied himself in order to lead Yasakani to his destination, for he had already realigned his body so as to be capable of walking down the first flight of stairs. His entire body was turned upside down, Ganjou's feet mysteriously finding purchase in thin air while his upper body were where his lower body normally would be, were he to walk normally. The Corps Member took no notice of this gross breach of logic and instead turned to move towards the first staircase, walking down it as if it was entirely real. The first staircase would be downright impossible to traverse for any ordinary shinobi, for it the stairwell itself was turned upside down, with the steps facing downwards towards the floor beneath them. It was surreal, a room designed to break the will of anyone who entered it who were unaware of the wonders of genjutsu - the illusory contingency that had protected the entrance weren't there to conceal the Corps Headquarters from spies as much as they were to conceal the entrance from curious guests whom would be incapable of entering it without succumbing to its effects. It would appear that Ganjou's destination was a room directly connected to the staircase, the corps member made no move to explain the situation, clearly he expected Yasakani to prove his worth by determining everything on his own as well as walking down the distorted flight of stairs and enter the room it connected to. It was most likely yet another test. Extraordinary Botany The instructor was still talking, one of the higher-ranked members of the Mirage Corps, the individual was a well-respected tutor in the upper crust of the Association, and in the village as a whole. But unfortunately, most of his students were adults, not young children who still lacked the patience to sit through a long rant about the glorious wonders of genjutsu, he had made a few practical demonstrations but nothing which really caught the academy students interest. No, no, this absolutely wouldn't do, at this rate he'd scare away future applicants. Shigeo Aizawa had up until then respectfully distanced himself from the whole event, he had intended to give the old expert room to demonstrate his knowledge and practical ability within the field. Hoping that it would ensnare the young students to take after-school classes within genjutsu, but as the leader of the Corps, it was his duty to ensure that their continued survival wasn't placed in jeopardy due to lack of recruits. The Kazekage was a wise and understanding man, but he still had a duty to the village and had to use their resources sparingly, especially considering the great losses of the Fourth War and the breach of the Shinobi Alliance. Besides, the had become more popular than ever after . He refused to lose to Kankuro, he had given his word, and even agreed to accompany Kankuro to every single Kabuki-play for the remainder of the year should he lose. The man had even taunted him into accepting an additional bet where they would attend the event wearing matching face-paint! He couldn't stand Kabuki plays most of the time, he found them annoying and blatantly obnoxious, with the over excessive and agonizingly garish costumes and the overdramatic acting and those hideous masks and painted faces. Having been the domestic partner of Kankuro for thirteen years, Shigeo had been forced to suffer through more kabuki-plays than any person not taken with the phenomenon should be allowed to endure. He was however fascinated by the bunraku puppet shows that he'd also attend with his partner, they were ghastly and dream-like, blatant, yet subtle and nuanced - he could relate to those puppets. Snapping back to the present; Shigeo knew precisely what do, wasting no more time mulling over the dreadful fate that awaited him should the Mirage Corps fail to yield enough new members. Shigeo moved, or at least, he felt like he moved - but it still felt unreal for everywhere around him; people failed to notice him, even as he drew closer to the instructor neither him nor any of the students seemed to recognize his presence. During his youth, this had been a major problem, during these times however, he had learned to control it at will. It allowed him to move effortlessly from place to place without being seen, even in broad daylight - it wasn't genjutsu, it was simply that he had established the ability to redirect attention elsewhere. Once he had arrived at the instructors side, he let his posture relax while he patiently and politely waited for the instructor to take notice of him. It took the man a few seconds longer than intended, but when he did notice, he almost leapt into the air due to being startled, having been so engrossed in his speech as to not notice Shigeo's approach. Despite the fact that he had tried to teach them how to respond to his movement, a shinobi shouldn't ever be startled our caught unaware, not even by a phantom. It was a stupid way to get oneself killed it was, and one which he would expect a member of his assigned taskforce to be perfectly capable of detecting, he'd need to lecture the man about that afterwards. Once the man speaking had calmed down he looked at Shigeo, and the other man glanced back at him, when their eyes met, his eyes softened in comprehension. As the instructor, previously eager and enthusiastic for the chance to flaunt his many experiences and extensive knowledge, graciously took a few step backwards. Not wasting anymore time, Shigeo took a few steps forward towards the group of students that were by now yawning irritably while waiting to get this over with. Not a good sign, he'd need to amaze them in order to save himself from the terrible humiliation he'd have to endure if he showed up to the next kabuki-play wearing matching face-paint to that of Kankurō. Inspecting the youths, he felt their unease at how silent he was, it was almost like if he wasn't really there, they could see him plainly in front of them but whenever he moved he didn't make even the slightest bit of disturbance or even a single sound. It was almost as if someone had rendered all of them deaf as by magic. This wasn't made any better by how Shigeo, in their eyes, outright refused to speak. Shigeo knew what had to be done, he'd need to show them the wonders of genjutsu right now, in this very instant, they'd need to get a relationship to it. To touch it, feel it and know it - and he knew just the thing to catch their interest and ensure that the Mirage Corps remained prolific. When he and his partner had first made the bet, he had been considering to simply use a genjutsu on each academy student he saw to make them want to attend the classes, but his man, ever inquisitive and knowledgeable of Shigeo's motives had made it abundantly clear that no, "bewitching" the kids were most decidedly not an option! So Shigeo had settled for the next best thing, showing them what a true demonstration looks like. When the Commander of the Mirage Corps raised his right hand, it was immediately engulfed in flickering blue flames, which danced vividly across the skin without burning it the slightest, they were heatless flames, conjured from his very imagination and imprinted upon reality. Without a word, the flames began to crawl back towards his outstretched palm, where they would then connect into a single small orb of bluish fire. It was at that point that the previous instructor began to speak... "Aizawa-san has asked me to inform you that what he's holding, is in fact a seed" Whispers began to take place amongst the students, they couldn't rationalize, based upon their own understanding of what a seed was, that what he was holding was indeed a seed. He had expected that much, it went against their beliefs - but he would soon correct them nevertheless. While he still held their attention, Shigeo dropped the "seed" onto the ground, and no sooner had it made contact with the ground before the ground directly underneath it was forcibly ripped apart as several vines sprouted forth from the earth, moving together into a towering "tree" before innumerable small buds on their long stems would bloom in great radiance one after another even as they looked upon the spectacle. Leaves would spontaneously sprout from the plant and it was soon a fully grown piece of art. Normal vines would not be solid enough to support their own weight, but these ones were different, they remained steadfast and immoveable as they branched together. However, this phenomena wasn't what caught the viewers attention, it was merely the foundation of the miracle... For each of the leaves and flowers were composed of the same vibrant blue flames that he had previously conjured; even while the stem of the plants were of natural color and composition. Despite their close proximity to "fire", the vines did not burn, no, it would appear as if they thrived off of the flames which radiated from each of the leaves and flowers. Many of the academy students regarded his creation as if it had personally insulted them some way or another, no doubt scrutinizing its existence and whether or not it was actually possible. But no matter how hard they tried to disbelieve it, no matter how they blinked and looked at it again, Shigeo's "tree" still stood there, as real as ever - it was a contradiction, an impossibility they couldn't fathom, but nonetheless, there it was. A girl from the academy walked up to the "tree", examining it from every single angle before she turned to Shigeo and spoke curiously "Aizawa-san, with all due respect for your position, I don't think what you just did is possible" to her surprise however, Shigeo responded by making a weird face, his mouth agape and his eyes closed. It took the onlookers a few moments to realize that he was in fact.. laughing. The whole spectacle was unmistakably eerie for while Shigeo's face spoke of amusement and mirth, the fact that he made no sound at all while "laughing" was very unsettling. The instructor looked at the girl before he spoke directly to her "Aizawa-san wants to know if you like flowers", the girl gazed at him oddly before she answered curtly "Yes, I suppose, they're nice". Shigeo gave her a warm smile before he walked over to his creation and picked one of the flowers wreathed in the blue fire, like before, the flames didn't burn him at all and instead felt cool against his skin, it did indeed radiate light though; a faint blue nimbus radiating from each of its fiery petals. Once he had taken the flower, he reached down and handed it to the girl in question. Even detached from the tree, it was by all means real and she was surprised to find that it didn't burn her in the slightest, it was mind boggling - her amazement was so large that she simply accepted the flower and walked back to her classmates without a word. All while staring blankly out into empty space, as if she was desperately trying to think of a reason, any reason at all, as to how this could be rationalized.